Back to the North Wood column: Still no answers in Milladore murder

On the morning of Oct. 22, 1923, Helen Remsha, 15, discovered the body of August Cicienas lying in a ditch. Cicienas, a Lithuanian from Chicago, previously had worked on the farm of Remsha’s neighbor, named Czarkowski.

Testimony by several doctors at a preliminary hearing in November ascertained the body had been moved from its back to its face at least three hours after death, and the fatal skull fracture had been caused by a heavy club rather than a horse kick.

Money was missing from the body, and now witnesses were called to try piece together who murdered Cicienas, recently returned with moonshine from Chicago and lodging at Remsha’s.

The top suspects were former employer Ludwig (Louis) Czarkowski and William Remsha, both of whom had borrowed substantial money from Cicienas, money he was in town to collect to buy a farm, and Mike Sunieckas, another Lithuanian who had partied with the other three.

The men all admitted to drinking the illegal moonshine with Cicienas on Sunday at the Remsha farm. At about 5:15 p.m., neighbors saw Czarkowski trying to break his wild horse while riding down the roadway, with Cicienas in pursuit, beating the animal with a large club, that club now missing. The suspects claimed the horse must have kicked him during this time, which made no sense, as certainly the men would have known it at the time.

William Remsha took the stand in November and told how after taking the horse from Czarkowski on Sunday, he did not see Cicienas then but much later saw Cicienas “lying in the hay.” Remsha changed his story in December, saying he did not see anyone in the hay.

In October, Helen Remsha told police that while milking four cows Sunday evening, she saw Cicienas more than once after dark in their yard. In November, she recanted, saying she had not seen him that evening, but in December, asked why she had told Undersheriff Bluett that originally, she admitted to the first story. The time-line was important because if Cicienas truly was kicked by the horse while chasing it, that took place before dark, and Helen could not have seen him later, as claimed.

Helen said in October, she found the body on the way to school and later testified it was on her way home from the cheese factory. Obviously, someone was coaching the girl.

The murder motive was decided to be the money owed to Cicienas, but that still did not prove if Remsha, Czarkowski or both had killed him, but police knew it had to be at least one of the two.

When subpoenaed, Stan Retkowski, the current Czarkowski farmhand, failed to appear. He had not been there that Sunday night but had told Frank Vakoc he knew what happened.

Vokac testified Retkowski told him, “If they get me mad, I’ll make a quick end to it all,” and Vakoc took this to mean that Retkowski knew what happened and would tell authorities. When finally dragged in, Retkowski denied having said that to Vokac but did say that Remsha was about to “tell him more” about it one day, but they were interrupted.

By December, all testimony had been given, and the jury came back quickly with a verdict of “murder by person(s) unknown.”

In February 1924, Marshfield District Attorney Williams said there was no chance of getting a conviction on strength of the present evidence, so the case was simply left open.

The case was far from over though; two years later, Sunieckas, who had returned to Chicago right after the murder, was back in Milladore, arrested for being drunk and disorderly. Sunieckas was jailed for 60 days on the arrest charge, with officials hoping to get more of the murder story from him. All they gleaned was that the money owed Cicienas by Czarkowki and Remsha was more than $1,400, and Cicienas was not buying a farm in Wisconsin but rather in Lithuania, which is why he was demanding the money then.

In December 1925, the Cicienas family got 39 family signatures and presented a petition to Gov. Blaine asking the case be reopened, but no action was taken.

Finally, in December 1926, three years after the murder, the relatives of Cicienas, unhappy that justice had not been served, brought legal action against the doctors who performed the autopsy, claiming mutilation because Cicienas’ head was removed and being preserved at Marshfield Hospital. Using Madison attorneys, they filed for damages totaling $100,000. Nothing came of that either.

After 90 years, the only question remaining is, “Who got away with murder?”

Rhonda Whetstone is a columnist for News-Herald Media, Stevens Point Journal Media and Daily Tribune Media. Rhonda’s Twitter ID is TribRendezvous if you wish to follow her musings there. You also can get previews of upcoming columns by clicking “Like” on Back to the North Wood on Facebook. If you have story ideas of a historical nature, email her at Rhonda.Whetstone@gmail.com.